The Damask fragrance of some of the deep red HT's will knock your socks off: 'Mr. Lincoln', 'Oklahoma' (which I would love to have here), 'Cl. Etoile de Hollande', 'Francis Dubreuil'/'Barcelona'. The latter two I have currently in the garden. There are others which I'm not personally familiar with.
I grow very few Austin roses because they don't do well in the adversity to which I subject my roses. But I've had quite a few in the past and know there are many fragrant ones. About the only one I have currently that does really well for me is 'Sharifa Asma'. It's a sturdy rose that stays a reasonable size, and is one of the most fragrant roses I know. Highly recommended.
Many of the Pemberton Hybrid Musks are very sweetly scented, and the scent travels on the air. The best for fragrance in my experience are 'Cornelia' and (very best of all) 'Felicia'. But most of Pemberton's roses are fragrant.
There are many very fragrant roses among the old once-blooming roses of European origin and the hybrid Spinosissimas, but I doubt they would grow in your climate and so I won't talk about them.
'Mme. Plantier' is wonderfully scented. It's also a huge, once-blooming rose and the old flowers stay on the plant. But if you have room for it, it's splendid.
Many of the Teas are scented, but not everyone can smell that fragrance. It has a cool, dry, woody character, not what most people associate with roses. Scented Chinas tend to have a mild sweet fragrance, not overly strong.
Many of the Noisettes are fragrant; often it's a wafting sweet scent that probably comes from the musk rose in their ancestry. 'Jaune Desprez' wafts, and I think 'Blush Noisette' does too.
I'll stop here, but not because I've run out of roses. There are very fragrant roses among the Bourbons and Hybrid Perpetuals too, and a number of much-hybridized roses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. 'Noella Nabonnand', classed as a climbing Tea, has a strong fruity fragrance.
Melissa

Once again, I must put in a vote for Champney's pink cluster. It blooms 365 days a year for me and has a strong scent that carries a quite a distance. Another favorite for heavenly stink is Eugene de Beauharnais, although many people on these forums have difficulty with him. He doesn't seem to have any problems in my garden other than the fact that he's a rather slow grower.

Please be aware that "wafting" of scents is highly dependent on the existence of humidity. Only in a humid location will rose scents "waft." That does include New Orleans, but not SoCal.

Is there a reason Mme Isaac Pereire rarely blooms? She has leafed out beautifully & has increased in height. This coming spring will be her 2nd year in my garden. I have big expectations madame.

Another one that is equally stingy and as fragrant is Gertrude Jekyll.

Thanks for weighing in everyone! I realize scent is highly subjective and comes with it a set of conditions which may or may not be inducive to being able to smell a rose.

Not having humidity here in Socal (even about a mile away from the beach) is both a blessing and a slight drawback where roses are concerned.

Mauve - I'm not sure why your MIP rarely blooms. I hard she was quite forthcoming =)

Some of my favorites for their scent are Frederic Mistral, Evelyn, Eglantine, Angel Face, Ebb Tide, Big Purple (though I don't care for the rose much), and Munstead Wood. Roses don't waft much around here in the desert, but these roses smell lovely up closer. In fact all my Austins have nice scents. Diane

Yep -- even a mile from the beach. I live in a coastal canyon and we get PLENTY of marine layer fog. That's not the type of humidity that matters for scent carrying capability. What you need is warmth at the same time as humidity, I think. Scent never "wafts" at my place, except from the Angel Trumpets when they are in bloom. For some reason, that one carries really well if you are within a thirty to forty foot zone of the plant. Probably just because it is so very sickeningly strong up close.

Mine were planted only a few months ago, but as I look through my inventory, the ones which were really strongly scented were:

Bourbons
'Mme Dore'
"Sophie's Perpetual" (often listed as a China)

Damasks
'Botzaris'
'Quatre Saisons Blanc Mousseaux'

English/Austins
'Abraham Darby'
'Evelyn'
'Jude the Obscure'
'Prospero'
'The Prince'

Gallicas
'Duchesse de Montebello'
'Georges Vibert'

Hybrid Bracteata (ala Paul Barden)
'Golden Buddha' (though the apricot smell it had wasn't sharp and didn't travel far, it was very strong up-close)

Hybrid Chinas (both reminded me of how Albas smell)
'Duchesse d'Angouleme' (the one aka 'Wax Rose')
'Nouveau Monde'

Hybrid Musks
'Bubble Bath' (not very strong up-close, but carried far)

Hybrid Perpetuals
'Georg Arends'

Hybrid Teas
'Heirloom'
'Lagerfeld'
'Lemon Spice'
'Mirandy'
'Oklahoma'

Musks (all three strong close-up AND carried far)
'Reverend Seidel'
'Rosa moschata' single-form
"Secret Garden Musk Climber"

Polyanthas
'Clotilde Soupert'
'Marie Pavie' (not sharp or strong close-up, but carried far)

Portlands
"Rose de Rescht"

Teas
"Bermuda Spice" (like fresh grapefruit)

Tea-Noisette
'Jaune Desprez' (not sharp or strong close-up, but carried far)

There are others I picked that are supposed to be very scented as well, but not everything bloomed (or bloomed much) the first year, so I'm going by only what I actually got to sniff. Some roses gave (or were "allowed") only one flower. I'm looking forward to Spring.

:-)

~Christopher

Christopher,

Where did you get Madame Dore? She's on my list but I can't find anyone who sells her.

~Stacey

When you go to Rose Shows, the roses that are always in the 'Best Fragrance' Category are:

Double Delight
Fragrant Cloud
Sugar Moon

I did win for Most Fragrant Rose with The Prince. I brought him to the show thinking he could be a great bloom, but he didn't open enough so I stuck him in Most Fragrant just for the heck of it!

My two other fragrance favorites are Barrone Prevost and Comte de Chambord. Great classic rose fragrance.

La France is probably the most fragrant rose in my garden, but then a lot of my roses are here because they can stand the heat or are otherwise tough. Young Lycidas, which is young and has had only a few blooms, is also quite fragrant. So was The Dark Lady, which didn't stay long because in my soil it was a rather bright red. A great rose otherwise which bloomed and grew like crazy as soon as I planted it from its band pot. Souvenir de la Malmaison and its sports are also fragrant, although not one of my favorite scents. Duchesse de Brabant and Lady Hillingdon are two tea roses that I can smell and they have a lovely scent. Ebb Tide was very fragrant. Bishop's Castle is very fragrant even in my dry garden. Belinda's Dream and Madame Dore are also very good.

Ingrid

Stacian, 'Mme Dore' was one of my Vintage Gardens buys last year. When I heard they were going to be closing, I paid attention to each release, and tried snatching up anything that was either on "my list" or could be, if I knew about it before. I was looking for fragrance, so with each release, I'd search what was available using that criterium, then looking up anything new to me on HelpMeFind. I liked the idea of a small fragrant Bourbon, and since 'Mme Dore' is one of the many which is hard to find beyond Vintage Gardens, I made sure to add it to my order.

And here's a plea for everyone else who snatched up rarities from Vintage Gardens: as your plants grow, consider rooting a few more and offering them to existing nurseries to keep them in commerce. Simply email the ones in your area, saying "Hey, I have this, and I notice you don't...would you be interested in a rooted cutting to grow as a mother plant in exchange for a credit toward a rose you already offer for sale?"

Oh, and one final, kinda unrelated plea: a lot of photos are posted here of roses that aren't well-known. If what is shared here goes beyond what is available at HelpMeFind, consider uploading them there -- especially whole-plant shots. A few times I've looked through the forum to get ideas of how some lesser-known roses will grow (shape, size, etc) and found great shots and/or first-hand descriptions here, but not-so-much at HelpMeFind. A few roses I got had NO pics at HelpMeFind, yet I recall some forum members saying they grew them. So look through your inventories, see how well individual roses are represented on HMF, and consider expanding the information available on that wonderful resource.

:-)

~Christopher

In my garden Sonia Rykiel and Yolande d'Aragon knock my socks off. The old HT Mirandy does also. It and Sonia R. can have weakish stems, but I think they are worth growing for the scent..

The 1958 floribunda Ivory Fashion is exquisitely perfumed of cloves. A commenter on Help Me Find describes Ivory Fashion this way:

"Aug 2007: I bought this rose in the 'band' form from Vintage Gardens. Although it was just a stick when it arrived, it has produced extremely fragrant roses!! The bush is rather small, as it is very young, but the scent from these ivory blooms is hypnotic!! I wonder why this rose is no longer sold?? I just don't understand the 'rose business yet!"

Perhaps people don't like the growth habit of floribundas now, but I don't see how that can be. People used to grow Ivory Fashion with Apricot Nectar, which was also wonderfully fragrant. Ivory Fashion is a parent of "Sally Holmes". Roses Unlimited has it.

If I gardened in zone 10, I would want to try the wonderfully fragrant Jaune Desprez along with Climbing Souvenir de la Malmaison and climbing La France -- not to mention Annie Laurie McDowell (whose scent people praise to the skies), and in general explore the teas, true musks, and noisettes that are a bit too tender for my area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jaune Desprez

This post was edited by monarda on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 18:36

..not an old garden rose but a Hybrid Tea - Chartreuse de Parme [Delbard]... well, I think it's lovely. I don't know if it's available outside Europe...

My favorites according to my nose...in order...sort of:

-Sonia Rykiel
-Blush Hip
-Cornelia
-Felicia
-Felicite Parmentier
-Gr. Maiden's Blush
-Sharifa Asma
-Honorine de Brabant

The Honorine I'm listing at the end because I don't have her any more so can't compare to the others...but she stands out in my memory...I think the raspberry note especially appeals to me as I cannot state emphatically enough how very delicious each and every bloom of Sonia Rykiel is.

My 5 year old daughter is becoming a connoisseur already (we like to take a big bucket and just snip off blooms and she asks for each's name...oh the adorableness etched into my heart as we go) and last year rose after rose her little nose preferred Cornelia to all others.

Not sure how my list will help you though...certainly you *won't* have any luck with the Albas in your clime. The others you'd need to find info from others in your area.

Cheers!
~Anika

Here is a link that might be useful: GothicLibrarian.net

This post was edited by gothiclibrarian on Sat, Jan 4, 14 at 11:54

My favorite scent is Crimson Glory's rich rose perfume. Other hybrid teas not yet mentioned are Yves Piaget, Voodoo, Perfume Delight, New Zealand & Full Sail, Tiffany & The McCartney Rose. Climbers include America & her sport Pearly Gates, Aloha & her sport Dixieland Linda/Lady Ashe. Grandiflora White Lightnin', floribundas Margaret Merrill & Sunsprite are also delicious.

Try searching "most fragrant roses" & you'll turn up many more...

Christopher,
I emphatically agree with your idea of sharing around rare roses you own; I don't know if nursery owners would be interested, but it's certainly worth a try. Cutting and plant swaps with other gardeners have hugely enriched my and their gardens. By the way, it's also a buffer against the loss of a plant: if your plant dies, a gardening friend may still have it and be able to start you again.
Your suggestion of uploading photos, including whole plant shots, to HMF is also excellent. The folks who run the site also appreciate input about such matters as how big a given variety gets in your garden, and will update their posted descriptions accordingly.
Stacey, I hope you'll forgive the OT. Actually these thoughts deserve a thread of their own.
Melissa

Marie Pavie and Rosa moschata waft wonderfully for me even in dry air. Interestingly, they are not all that fragrant when I put my nose right up close to the flowers.

Oklahoma and Cl Crimson Glory are my most fragrant modern roses.

Gertrude Jeckyll is said to be one of the most fragrant roses ever bred. Mine is fragrant and I do like it, but I find Deuil du Dr Reynaud to be the most fragrant rose in my garden. It is certainly not the healthiest rose I grow, but its scent keeps its place intact. I have decided to cull the 10% poorest performers this year with regard to the ongoing drought, but DdDR is safe.

Rosefolly

Marie Pavie often floats around on the breeze in my small backyard, even in our Dallas/Fort Worth dry summer weather. The individual blooms are so short lived that they could be regarded as insignificant, but man that scent keeps her in my good favor.

Randy

Marie Pavie, Blush Noisette, Champney's Pink Cluster, Madame Isiac Periere; Lemon Spice,Tiffany and Papa Meilland, but I do love the OGRs the most because they are so dependable and delectable, but every garden should grow Tiffany, Papa and Lemon Spice.

Favorites in my garden last year were:

Fragrant Cloud
Sceptre d'Isle
Jude the Obscure
Sharifa Asma
English Perfume

I'm looking forward to Bolero this year! I've read that it has great fragrance.

At our local gardens, Memorial Day had the most impressive fragrance.

My most fragrant rose is also my favorite, the alba Felicite Parmentier. She is a once-bloomer though, but when she flowers the fragrance certainly wafts, even in dry air.

Others that waft here include:

Paul's Himalayan Musk, a once bloomer and also a house and tree eater, beware!

York and Lancaster, a beautiful and also very, very big damask. After 20+ years of growth (without pruning!), mine is up on the roof. When in flower, it is so gorgeous, and as the canes sway in the breeze, the fragrance envelopes the whole area. Once bloomer.

Rosa californica 'First Dawn'. Native california rose. Likes moderate water and some amount of shade (that's where it is happiest in the wild). Produces massive trusses of single very pale pink cupped flowers. Blooms for much of the year. I bought it at a native plant sale when I was NOT shopping for roses, but it was the wafting scent of a group of them all in bloom that drew me in like a magnet. As an added bonus the tiny hips that it produces are rather tasty, kind of like dried apricots in texture but with a milder taste.

Fragrant but I haven't noticed wafting:

Oklahoma
Portland from Glendora (rose found in the neighboring city of Glendora
Saint Eilizabeth of Hungary
Reine des Violettes
Rose de Rescht
Comtesse O'Gorman
Baronne Prevost
Stanwell Perpetual
Mrs. William Paul
Jenny Duval
Pickering Four Seasons
Rene d'Anjou
Henry Nevard
Francois Premier
Soupert et Notting
Gertrude Jekyll
Marchesa Boccella
Chrysler Imperial
Clotilde Soupert
President Dutailly
Benny Lopez
Duchesse de Rohan
Excellenz von Schubert

Melissa

Most consistently reliably strongly fragrant:

Firefighter

Felicia

Nehema

Frederic Mistral

Fragrant Cloud

Double Delight

Ebb Tide (in the mornings only)

Heaven Scent

New Zealand

My favourite scents that make me swoon:

Barbra Streisand

Papa Meilland

Crimson Glory

Frederic Mistral

Ebb Tide

Felicia

When these are good they are supremely good

Very fragrant and most prolific:

Sonia Rykiel

Frederic Mistral

Happy Child

Firefighter

PJP II (more fragrant in autumn)

Granada

Duchesse de Brabant

Other well scented roses in my garden worth mentioning:

Evelyn

Jude the Obscure

Marie Pavie

Addictive Lure

Perfume Delight

Perfume Passion

Stainless Steel

Munstead Wood

Fragrant Plum

Angel Face

Honey Bouquet

Blue Moon

Full Sail

Gertrude Jekyll (poor repeat)

Not as fragrant as I had hoped for (so far on young plants):

Princess Alexandra of Kent

Dior Essence

Chartreuse de Parme

SdlM

Reine des Violettes

Yves Piaget

Blush Noisette

I am hopeful that some of these will develop a stronger fragrance as they get older as I have sniffed a rather fragrant PAOK before at a rose show

Fragrant, long stems and last well as cut flowers:

Granada

Double Delight

Sonia Rykiel

Firefighter

Nehema

PJP II

Evelyn

Augusta Luise

These last pretty well too:

Barbra Streisand

Papa Meilland

Crimson Glory (short cutting stems)

Blue Moon

New Zealand

Fredric Mistral

Honey Bouquet

Not very good as cut flowers (short vase life):

Happy Child

Marie Pavie

PAOK

Munstead Wood

Ebb Tide

Duchess de Brabant

Felicia

Jude the Obscure

These have done well in my zone 10 Mediterranean climate with extremely hot and dry and long summers.

Here's off the top of my head..there's probably more :)

La Belle Sultane

Yolonde D'Aragon

Orpheline de Julliet

Ebb Tide

Rose du Roi

Lilian Austin

I know there's more, but since I'm sick with two sick kids home sick...that's all I can think of ATM, Hope you enjoyed my list and surprisingly to me..La Belle Sultane wafts good!

'Winter Magic' and its sport 'Café Ole', 'Sunshine' (Robichon), 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', 'Chrysler Imperial', 'Devoniensis', 'Desprez a Fleur Jaune', 'Columbine', 'Apricot Nectar', 'Leprechaun', 'Maman Lyly', and 'Snowbird' all come to mind... A special case is 'Will Scarlet' which, when it mass-blooms, wafts a delicious scent which I am convinced is that of the pollen.

Where can I order this in the states?

Mishu - HMF lists Burlington Rose nursery as having Will Scarlet.

Jackie

It has been my experience that fragrant roses are most fragrant planted in groups or grown as enormous plants. I can't do this because I like to try as many as possible in a tiny space. So I have to smell the flowers one by one, as it were. Or brought indoors.

I have Golden Wings, for example, which Helen van Pelt Wilson and Leonie Bell raved about, and I have never detected much fragrance from my specimen. But walking in Longwood Garden years ago, I experienced a powerful, delicious fragrance emanating from three large bushes planted in a corner of the garden at some distance away from me. (When I went back a few years later, they were gone, alas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).

Similarly , when visiting a Long Island nursery (it was Hicks) on an intermittently raining spring morning at a nursery I was delighted by the powerful fragrance coming from a row of potted plants of Rose de Rescht lined up for sale outside beside a bench. And I returned on subsequent days and they were still fragrant.

My third memorable rose fragrance experience was at the Bronx Botanic Rose Garden, where a corner was planted with large specimens of Raubritter and Ispahan planted together. What a combo! And I think I went back on subsequent years to smell them. (Haven't been back in many years).

I might as well add something from husband's and my trip to Venice some twenty years ago. There was a planting of -- I am almost sure -- Mermaid, that thorny beast -- trained up a very tall entrance doorway and growing horizontally across the entire second floor of an old building. (Those antique buildings have very high ceilings and tall, imposing doorways). You could smell the flowers from the next block, a very distinctive fragrance, somewhat unrose-like, and you wondered what it could be. It was amazing.

How did they do it ? It was growing in a container and some gardener had skillfully trained it with love and skill to grow vertically about 12 or 15 feet up and then sideways about 20 (or more) feet, with all the flowers at the top in a brilliant yellow stripe across the building's second storey, as a way to deal with the thorny growth, I guess. It was a horticultural triumph.